The Malfoy Heir

The Malfoy Heir

Prologue

She wanted the book. She wanted it so bad that she could almost taste it. The leather was warm in her hands as she leaned back against the bookshelves. For months she had saved up every scrap of money that had come her way; Knuts and Sickles and the occasional Galleon. It was all for the book. It was all that she wanted but once again, she'd have to wait. Her mother was angry with her again so there were to be no more books for a very long time. Once again her brother came before her in their mother's affections. Bitter disappointment twisted her face for a split second before fading into the cool, polite mask that she usually wore. After all, disappointment was a very familiar feeling.

"Well, imagine finding you here in these dusty old books." The girl's heart jumped into her throat at the sound of that ice cold voice then plummeted back into place at the even icier eyes.

"Leave me alone Pansy. I've never done anything to make you hate me." Much to her shame, her voice was small and exhausted.

"Not do anything? You existed you silly little twit. You breathed and everyone looked at you. Everyone loved you."

The girl stood from her crouched position on the floor and turned to walk away only to find the ends of the aisle blocked by more smirking faces. She whirled, her eyes huge on her cousin's face. The smirks grew wider as Pansy snatched away the book the girl had clutched to her chest.

"Famous Aurors of the Past and Present," Pansy read off the spine of the book. Her sneer came back as the girl shivered faintly. "How precious of you to want the last book my darling uncle wrote before he suddenly and tragically disappeared. But." Her voice turned sickly sweet as an idea occurred to her. "Shouldn't your mother be buying this little memento for you? Oh, wait. I forgot. She hates you and loves your brother. Alex is his name, I believe."

The girl bowed her head and slid down the bookshelf to the floor. She could feel the spines of the books behind her pressing into her back as if trying to comfort her. Oddly enough it did. Those books were a constant the knowledge of that surrounding her thoughts.

"I believe the poor girl's going to cry. I didn't mean to make her sad." Pansy's laugh was cold and cruel. Before she could say anything more a new voice interrupted.

"This must be so amusing to the likes of you. I prefer better game though." The voice paused and a considering note crept into his, for it was most definitely a he, voice. " Isn't she your blood Pansy?"

"Draco," Pansy purred. The girl on the floor looked quickly up. 'So that's what the famed Malfoy heir looks like.'

"Draco," she purred again. "She is family, unfortunately, but she's of no consequence at all. She hasn't been important since her father died. Why her mother hates the little twit." Pansy was laughing.

"Hmm. Interesting." He sounded as bored as humanly possible.

The girl kept her eyes on him from behind the curtain of hair shrouding her face. Her hands clenched convulsively into fists as Pansy leaned closer to the boy.

"Pansy, I think she's jealous of you," a voice in the crowd commented as she noticed the gesture. The Malfoy boy smirked and turned around.

"Come on. Let's go. She's not worth it."

Even after they had all left, the girl remained where she was, too scared to really move. The thought kept running through her head that she had actually survived the experience without coming to harm. There were no bruises, no scrapes, no scars to remind her of any pain because there had been no pain. No physical pain, but the emotional no longer mattered.

"Hey. You." It was the Malfoy boy again. He noted that whenever he moved she cringed away from him trying to get away. She was probably trying to make herself smaller than she already was. Her big green eyes peered out at him when he made no attempt to touch her or bother her at all beyond the questions. Malfoy stared at her intently for a few minutes, frowning slightly.

"She really hates you doesn't she?" His voice was barely above a whisper and thoughtful as if he wasn't asking a question but rather making a statement. The girl nodded swiftly hoping he would leave her alone after that one question. Of course he didn't.

"But why?" Minutes passed as nothing was said. Just as Malfoy was about to give up on ever getting an answer, her voice reached his ears.

"Because I was loved even for a little while. Because the people around me noticed me and cared about me and ignored her. Because I was the darling of the family where she was the runt of no consequence."

Draco stood and leaned against the bookshelf at the end of the aisle giving her room to move if she wanted to. He closed his eyes briefly expecting her to be gone when he opened them again. Instead, he was rather surprised to see that rather than fleeing she had stood as well and was facing him. 'At least she stopped cowering on the floor in absolute terror anymore,' he thought sourly.

"She's basically jealous that you had something that she didn't even if she has it now."

The girl nodded again. "That's one way to put it." She pushed her hair out of her face and behind her shoulders. The movement revealed a fading yellow and purple bruise that brushed across her collarbone.

"I take it as the bruise is a little gift from Pansy and her cohorts." He pointed to the side of her neck. She shrugged and moved the neck of her robe to hide it. Draco snorted in derision.

"She's stupid for harming you like that." He elaborated when he saw her puzzled look. "Injuries should leave no sign of having ever been there. That way nothing can be blamed on you. There's simply no physical evidence to tie you to the attack," Draco quoted one of his father's lessons. The girl nodded slowly as if considering what that meant for her future.

"It's not like anyone would believe me even if I did tell on her. She's the darling of the family now." Her voice was so cynical that Draco was tempted to look around him to check for someone else.

"I've been talking to you all this time and I don't even know your name," he blurted out. She hesitated for a moment before turning and walking off. She paused at the door to the shop and turned back to face him.

"It's Rose. Rose Kingston." She disappeared into the crowd beyond. Draco started to follow suit but his foot bumped up against something. Bending down, he picked up the book Pansy had taken from the girl.